Out in the Dark

by Nicola Adams

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Out in the Dark

  For Dorothy (Thea), Sarah and Olivia,

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Out in the Dark

  By Nicola Adams

  Copyright 2016 by Lynn Hooghiemstra as Nicola Adams

  Cover Copyright 2016 by Untreed Reads Publishing

  Cover Design by Ginny Glass

  The author is hereby established as the sole holder of the copyright. Either the publisher (Untreed Reads) or author may enforce copyrights to the fullest extent.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the publisher or author, except in the case of a reviewer, who may quote brief passages embodied in critical articles or in a review. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This is a work of fiction. The characters, dialogue and events in this book are wholly fictional, and any resemblance to companies and actual persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  www.untreedreads.com

  Out in the Dark

  Nicola Adams

  For Dorothy (Thea), Sarah and Olivia,

  three bright lights in the dark

  Chapter 1

  The image flashed across his brain again and Jake rubbed his eyes to make it go away. He knew what it was and why he was seeing it, but he didn’t want to deal with it. He shouldn’t have to, not at his age. He should be having a normal life, going to baseball practice, sneaking a smoke behind his mother’s back and cutting the occasional class to prove he was a normal teen—except that he wasn’t.

  It was all his father’s fault. His father had taught him to see what nobody else could. To see far away and see what he was told to see. His father had taught him to read people, events and places from afar, and now his father was sending him images. Things Jake didn’t want to see.

  The school bus bounced across the potholes like it had lost all suspension. It was the oldest bus in the fleet, used to pick up the rowdiest kids along the rural routes in Washington. The seat covers were torn and the windows covered in permanent marker graffiti; some good, most terrible and just about all of it lewd.

  Jessica nudged him hard in the ribs. “Hey, you listening?”

  “Yeah, I’m listening,” Jake grumbled. She might be his girlfriend, but he was getting tired of her constant chatter about clothes and parties and celebrities. “When’s the party and where?” he said in a gruff voice, the one he’d adopted after his father left for the Air Force base somewhere south.

  It had only been a year since his dad got called up for a special and highly secret project, but it felt so much longer. Jake’s mother could barely cope, and Jake felt sure she would start something with Mr. Caruthers, the high school football coach. He’d been hanging around for weeks now, supposedly helping her out with chores around the house, but acting as if he was about to own the place.

  Why did Dad have to go away? Jake was mad at him and wanted him to come home to make everything right again, but that was little-kid dreaming. Life didn’t work that way.

  “Now that you have your driver’s license you can pick me up in your mom’s car and maybe we can go somewhere afterwards.” Jessica leaned suggestively against his shoulder and looked up at him with eager and expectant eyes. Her eyes were her best feature, big and round and deep blue. Aside from that she had an okay body; it was shapelier than most girls in his class. He wished she wouldn’t bleach her hair, though; it made it look unnatural, almost like straw.

  Everyone said he was lucky to be with her. His friends all thought they would marry after high school graduation. He could keep his job at Ramon’s garage and be all set. Why bother with college?

  If they only knew Jake had very different plans. He was determined to get out of this small town. Rural Pacific Northwest was not his scene. Any place had to be better than this.

  The bus squealed to a stop in front of James Madison High. A standard one-story, sprawling school building that every day reminded Jake of a prison. Throngs of teens in flannel, fleece and jeans shuffled into the building. The principal stood at the door greeting each kid who walked past. It was his way of showing that the kids mattered, but Jake knew better. If each kid mattered then why had nobody suggested to him he try for a top science college or even just community college? His math scores were off the charts and the only thing keeping the school scores from being at rock bottom.

  Yeah, he was ready to get out. The sooner, the better.

  “Ah…” Jake doubled over at the searing pain in his head. This was not supposed to happen. His dad said that only on rare occasions could you feel the pain of others. What were they doing to his dad?

  “Dude, you okay?” A hulking figure stood over him and put a hand on his shoulder.

  “Yeah, no worries,” Jake said to the prize offense player of the football team. “Hangover; sunlight’s too bright,” he said, knowing that was the right answer. Besides, Brandon would never in a million years understand what was going on in Jake’s head, or his life.

  “Awesome, dude.” Brandon slapped him companionably on the shoulder, which nearly sent Jake sprawling. At 6 feet, 2 inches, he wasn’t exactly small, but his slender frame was no match for the over 200-pound mass of Brandon.

  All through algebra Jake was plagued by the images his father sent him telepathically, no matter how hard he tried to shut them out.

  An idea started to form, and by lunchtime he knew what he had to do.

  Chapter 2

  Ballarat Road was deserted and another rainstorm threatened to dump on the small town. Jake walked along the side of the road, a solitary figure treading the asphalt ribbon.

  Every quarter mile there was a mailbox. In the outskirts of town, people liked a lot of distance between themselves and their neighbors. They all claimed they wanted privacy, but Jake wondered what they were up to that was so secret. Domestic violence? Alcoholism? Drugs? Or just an inability to deal with people? He figured he’d seen it all in the neighbors around their property. His mother liked to drink a little too and grew pot, supposedly for some legal medical pot dispensary in Seattle. He didn’t ask. His father hadn’t asked either. He would rather tinker with robots in the barn than deal with his wife. Something had gone wrong between his parents about eighteen months ago and Jake didn’t know what.

  Jake couldn’t really blame his mother for wanting to be with another man. It could get very lonely out at their place, and it was abo
ut to get even lonelier for her.

  An old Ford pickup approached from behind him and Jake stopped to try and thumb a ride before the rain broke loose. It was Mr. Swanson, their nearest neighbor. The old man seemed to have a split personality. Jake wondered which Mr. Swanson he’d have to deal with; the law-and-order one, or the aging hippie. Jake much preferred the aging hippie. That one wouldn’t turn him in to the principal or his mother.

  Mr. Swanson rolled down the window. “Need a ride, boy?”

  “Thanks!” Jake quickly ran around the truck and got in. The truck had more duct tape on it than actual paint, but the engine ran smoothly. Jake knew that for a fact, as he was the one who had maintained it for the past few years.

  “Where to, son?” Mr. Swanson asked. Jake looked at the man and noted his breezy shorts and aloha shirt, his feet in woolly socks and sandals. Yep, he was in hippie mode.

  “Home, please,” Jake said, and hoped Mr. Swanson wouldn’t ask questions.

  “No school today?”

  “Got out early,” Jake said smoothly. Technically it wasn’t a lie; he did get himself out early, even if classes hadn’t been dismissed yet.

  “Nice.”

  “Yep.” Jake settled into the comfortable seat and thought some more about his plan. It had to be today; his dad depended on him.

  The road remained empty. Jake looked out the window at the foothills and saw the cloud line descending. There might even be some early snow in those clouds. He hoped the passes would still be clear.

  “Here you are, son.” Mr. Swanson pulled into the gravel drive. “Looks like your mom’s got company. Shouldn’t the coach be at school?” Mr. Swanson gave an exaggerated wink and nudged Jake in the ribs. Distant neighbors but still no secrets. He wished his mother was more discreet. He also wished she wasn’t so lonely. Mr. Caruthers was a nice enough guy, but nothing like his dad.

  Jake thanked his neighbor and slammed the door on the old truck. He waved politely as Mr. Swanson backed out of the drive and just missed their mailbox. The man’s license should be taken away, but out here driving was a God-given right, so even if Mr. Swanson had smoked a few, he would still drive.

  “Mom, he called out after he let the screen door fall noisily shut. “I’m home, but I’m leaving again,”

  He heard scuffling from the upstairs bedroom and then his mother’s voice calling out to him.

  “Jake, honey.” Her voice sounded too cheerful. “What are you doing home? I was just, um, folding laundry up here. I’ll be down in a minute.”

  “No hurry, Mom.” Jake walked through the kitchen and opened the fridge. He’d have to take some food along, but there wasn’t much to choose from. A couple bologna sandwiches would have to do. He set up the coffee maker to brew a full pot. He would take a thermos with him.

  Then he went to his room and pulled out his dad’s old Air Force duffel bag from under his bed. It was only a little moldy, like most things in the old wood-shingled house. Mold was a fact of life in this part of the world.

  Jake threw some clothes, his pajamas and an extra pair of shoes into the bag. He added a book and his road maps of America. He double-checked the battery on his iPhone and his laptop. He would take them both.

  “What’s up, kiddo?” His mom stood in the doorway to his room, her cheeks flushed and smoothing down her hair. She looked happy and Jake wasn’t sure if he felt anger or sadness that his mother had found some joy in the arms of another man. What would he tell his dad?

  “I gotta go, Mom,” Jake said and continued packing. “Dad needs me. He’s been showing me.”

  “Oh, now, honey, you can’t be serious.” His mom came over with her arms out wanting to envelop him in a hug, as if he were a small child in need of comforting. “Your dad can’t communicate with you from wherever he is; that’s about as possible as seeing fairies. He should never have filled your head with that remote viewing nonsense.”

  “Yeah, well, at least he did something,” Jake snapped, immediately regretting his words. He knew his mother had been there for him lots of times, just not lately. “Sorry, I mean he believes in it and it’s real. So real the government took him for experiments. He’s in trouble, Mom, I have to go help him.”

  “What do you think you can do?” His mother leaned against the ratty old closet, her arms crossed and the glow slowly fading from her face. She looked tired now, her hair dull and streaked with gray. She wore her old baggy sweats and his dad’s Mickey Mouse sweatshirt, a souvenir from a trip to Disneyland ten years ago. He wished she would leave with him. Go somewhere better, have a decent life.

  “Come with me?” he said, pleading like a little kid.

  “It’s too late for me, honey. I can’t go out there again,” she said sadly. “We had to move here to hide from demons that haunted your dad. I’m from here. I grew up with Caruthers. I should have married him and not been taken in by your dad. He looked so good in his uniform when I met him that I would have followed him anywhere. He was smart and sophisticated and everything I never saw in my hometown. I fell in love.” She sighed, a far-away look in her eyes. Jake wondered if she regretted her time with his dad.

  “I couldn’t keep up with him, Jake. He flew planes, he read and he had this gift for knowing things before they happened. It became too much for me, so I wanted to come home.”

  “But, you just said you guys came here because of Dad’s demons,” Jake snapped. “Which was it? And don’t tell me you did it all for me, because what’s here for me?” He spread his arms wide to indicate the town. He could feel anger rising as he thought about the stories his mother was telling him. Which one was the truth, or did she even know?

  “Both, neither, I just wanted to be safe and be with people I knew. Your dad went along just to please me, but when he got the call for a special project he took off. The checks stopped a month after that, and even the Air Force doesn’t know where he is. I called them and wrote to them and badgered them.” She stopped and Jake saw tears glistening in her eyes.

  “That can’t be true. He has to be with them,” Jake said, trying to control his anger.

  “Face it, Jakey, he did a runner on us. He’s gone,” she said with a wan smile.

  “No, not Dad, he wouldn’t do that,” Jake said, his voice cracking and rising. “I know he wouldn’t. He’s in trouble. He’s shown me. Mom, you know the telepathic link is real. He taught you too…why do you deny it? Why?” He was now practically screaming at her and fighting back his own tears.

  “Jakey, just leave it be. It’s safer that way.” She tried again to put her arms around him and this time he let her. Together, tearfully, they sat huddled on his bed.

  “I can see him sometimes, but I can’t let that lead my life. I can’t let him destroy you with it. People in town already think you’re different.”

  “Then let me leave. I’ll go live with Grandpa in Portland. I’ll finish school and go to college. Mom, I hate it here.” Jake dried his eyes, slightly embarrassed that he’d been crying, and hugged his mother again. He could hear Mr. Caruthers upstairs and was grateful the coach had the good taste to stay there.

  His mother took a deep, ragged breath and wiped the tears from her cheeks. She nodded at Jake. “Okay, you can go live in Portland with your grandfather. I’m sure it’s for the best,” she said. “Even I can see you don’t fit here. I’m sorry. What about Jessica, though?”

  “She’ll be fine. There are enough guys interested in her who share her ambitions, or lack of them,” Jake said. He knew he was being cruel and dismissive of Jessica, but right now she was the least of his concerns. She seemed superficial and empty-headed, but she was sweet. Sometimes Jake wished she would act on her deeper ambitions and not settle for what she could get.

  “I’ll call Grandpa and let him know you’re coming. How soon do you want to go?” Mom asked. “I’m guessing this weekend, right?” She had given up. Jake could see it in her eyes. She was completely giving up on everything. Especially herself. It made him angry again.
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  “Sure, you can call Grandpa,” he said, and turned away so he wouldn’t start yelling at her again. He wanted to shake her and make her come along. He wanted her to be the mother he remembered from his childhood…a vibrant woman full of life and a sense of adventure. Not this woman.

  Chapter 3

  In the pitch darkness after midnight Jake crept out of the house. He had long since learned which floorboards creaked and so avoided them. He carried the stuffed duffel bag and had all his saved-up cash. He’d earned a fair bit of money at Ramon’s garage, and most of it in cash. Ramon didn’t care to list Jake as an employee. He said it was too much paperwork

  None of that mattered now; Jake had his mission. He carefully opened the door to the garage and flicked on the flashlight he was carrying. The dark blue 1966 Pontiac GTO stood at attention, polished and ready for his dad. Jake kept the car in cherry condition, just like his dad had shown him, and in the past few weekends had even taken her out on some of the back roads. He loved the sound of the engine, though at the moment that sound worried him; he didn’t want to wake his mother.

  The driver’s side door was unlocked and he tossed the duffle bag onto the passenger seat before sliding in behind the wheel. He found the keys where they always were, under the sun visor, on an old NASA key chain. His dad had tried out for the astronaut corps but didn’t make it because he was too tall for the space capsules at the time.

  Jake got out and very slowly, making as little noise as possible, pushed up the garage door. It was easier by hand than using the automatic opener. The motion detector light switched on as the neighbor’s cat jumped off the trash bin, startled by the opening door. Jake held his breath, but nothing stirred.

  The driveway was just wide enough that he could ease the car past his mother’s beat-up old Honda hatchback.

  He looked up at the windows of the house and thought for a moment that he could see a shape standing by one of the upstairs windows. The curtain moved slightly, but it was probably from the breeze coming in the open window.